


Break Her

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 15:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7112107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex loses in the fight against Buck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Break Her

From day one, Buck had been Katja’s to do with as she pleased. He’d been created for her by her master, to protect her. She wasn’t ashamed to admit that she was a terrible fighter. Not when she had someone to do the dirty work for her. Still, she was a little surprised when Alex decided to be her own champion in the fight.

“Buck, break her!” Katja commanded, and then stood back to watch the ensuing battle. She put up a kind of shield around the two, a ring of mist that would prevent either fighter from stepping out of it without losing one of their three hit points.

Alex dealt the first blow, just as Katja had suspected she would. Scowling, she twitched her fingers, hiding the motion in her long coat sleeve, to revive her champion. She’d expected the girl to use her fists, not Soulstrike. It was hardly a fair fight when Buck was incapable of magic.

It hurt more than Katja expected it to when Buck finally managed to land a hit on his foe. Katja winced, averting her gaze from the fight. She didn’t want to see Alex get hurt. Another flash of magic, another revival, and then Katja had to stop herself from fleeing the scene or stopping the fight. She made the mistake of looking back at the sparring pair in time to see Buck’s hockey stick come down and land with a wet crunching sound.

“Damn it, girl, win,” Katja growled softly through clenched teeth. Louder, she added, “You only have one hit left before he finishes you, Alex.”

“I know, shut up,” said Alex after spitting blood in her direction. It was the distraction that Buck needed. Katja closed her eyes, seeing the hockey stick fall again, and shuddered at the cracking sound that she really, _really_ hoped was only Buck’s hockey stick breaking.

The battle was over, so now Katja could freely intervene. She dismissed the circle of mist, dismissed Buck, sent James back home with no memory of what had happened. And then she ran to the crumpled form of the girl who was supposed to be her foe.

“Alex, wake up,” she whispered, touching the girl’s bloodied hair. “Please wake up.” A tear dripped onto Alex’s face and Katja wiped at her eyes angrily. If Alex woke up and saw her like that, she’d tease her forever. Or hate her even more.

Katja used her magic to teleport them to the mansion that all of the Generals were living in (well, used to live in, now it was just her and Sabine while Jess tried to get back to Jorvik and Sangordha recovered).

“Wait here, I’ll just get something to clean you up and fix you up,” she said, leaving Alex on her bed. Her blood quickly soaked into the sheets and Katja ran before the bleeding got too bad.

In the bathroom, Katja grabbed everything out of the medicine cabinet. They used it often enough, not having any healers of their own. But she’d never had to use it. She supposed that she could always kidnap the healer, but that had failed when Sangordha and Sabine had tried. And how could she succeed where they had failed? Besides, Lisa would never believe that Katja truly needed her help.

“You stupid girl,” she muttered as she returned to her bedroom. She didn’t know if she was talking to herself or to Alex. “You’re supposed to be a better fighter.” She stripped Alex of her torn and dirty clothes, not letting herself admire Alex’s naked body, and set about cleaning and dressing her wounds. They weren’t too bad, just some broken ribs that Sabine showed her how to strap and a broken nose that Sabine helped her set.

“Who did she lose to?” asked Sabine, looking up from Alex for a moment to look at her pale sister leaning against the far wall.

“Buck,” said Katja. “Thanks for helping. You can go now.”

“Helping?” Sabine scoffed. “I did everything. You’ll have to change her dressings every so often. I’ll tell you when. Think you can do that?”

“Yes,” said Katja with a roll of her eyes. “I’m not that hopeless. Go make sure the Soulriders don’t come, I didn’t have the foresight to do anything with her horse so he’s probably alerted the others by now.”

“Will do,” said Sabine. “Good luck explaining yourself when she wakes up.”

Katja made a noncommittal noise and drew up a chair to sit beside Alex’s bed. She hoped that she was sleeping peacefully, getting the rest that she needed to recover.

“Hurry up and wake up,” she said. “If you wake up I can stop feeling guilty. Although you probably like that. I should feel guilty for everything I’ve done to you and I guess I kind of… do. Ugh, it feels dumb to admit that. But here’s an easier thing to admit, and I’m only saying it once so if you’re going to wake up, do it now.” Katja took a deep breath. “I love you. You’re a stupid, reckless, brash idiot, but I do.”

It had to be some dumb twist of fate, because Alex did exactly what Katja had asked her to do and woke up when she said that. Or she spoke up, anyway.

“Then why did you do that to me?” asked Alex. She stayed still, too sore to move. She didn’t open her eyes, either, couldn’t because they were swollen shut.

“Because I had to,” said Katja. “I have to serve my master. His wrath won’t be any easier on me if I fail him, if anything it’ll be worse. So I have to do all of this. But I didn’t want you to get hurt!”

“Hurt how?” asked Alex. “Hurt like how I cried for days after you broke up with me and betrayed me? Or hurt like I am now?”

“Like you are now,” said Katja bluntly. “Trust me, it hurt me as much as it hurt you when I broke up with you.”

“I’ve heard that before,” said Alex. “My friend is a master heartbreaker, she says that line every time she leaves some poor soul heartbroken.”

“But it’s true for me!” said Katja. “Would I have taken you back home to patch you up if I didn’t still have feelings for you? Would I have trouble saying it if it wasn’t true?”

“Yes you would!” Alex tried to move to face her but instead cried out in pain and fisted her hands in the still-bloody sheets. “You brought me back here to heal me so that I’d trust you again.”

“No I didn’t,” said Katja in a whisper. “It’s a good idea but I wasn’t thinking of that at the time. Ask Sabine, ask anyone, I was a mess when I brought you here.”

“You could be using your magic on me to make it seem like you feel sorry for me,” said Alex after a long silence spent thinking. “But you’re not. I can feel it. Or I can’t feel it, anyway.”

“I haven’t used my magic since I teleported here,” said Katja. “I… I can’t lie, Alex. Didn’t you find that out in your research?”

“You lied when you said that you wanted to run away with me,” said Alex. “Away from it all, away from anyone who’d disagree with me or judge me for what I am.”

“No,” said Katja again. “I was telling the truth. I really was going to run away with you and leave it all behind.”

“Should I be flattered?” asked Alex.

“Yes,” said Katja. “Be flattered. Because I do, I… I love you.”

“Come here,” said Alex. “I can’t move but I kind of want you near me.”

“Why?” asked Katja, instantly on the alert for any potential threats. “So you can kill me with your power?”

“Gotta be able to see you to do that,” said Alex with a smirk, and then winced at the motion. And then winced at the wince.

“Oh. Right,” said Katja. She left her chair and moved over onto the bed, sitting beside Alex.

Alex took her hand and kissed the back of it.

“What was that for?” asked Katja.

“Thanks for saving me,” said Alex. “I can’t give you a proper kiss because my nose hurts like a bitch, but maybe I can later.”

“Oh?” said Katja, feeling her heart race. Stupid heart and stupid emotions.

“Yeah,” said Alex. “I’m gonna tell Tin Can to not worry about me. I’ll break out of here when I’m feeling strong enough. But until then, we’ve got a lot of stuff to sort through.”

“Of course we do,” said Katja. “Maybe I should start by apologising. I’m sorry for hurting you. I mean that. And I love you. I mean that too.”

“I know,” said Alex. “Your tears kind of made that obvious.”

“You weren’t unconscious at all!” Katja suddenly realised.

“Hey, I was up until you cried on my face,” said Alex, laughing as much as her injuries would allow.

Katja only blushed and laid down beside her wounded former foe, pressing up against her so that Alex knew that she was there. Alex’s smile at the gesture gave her the tiniest shred of hope that maybe, despite everything, Alex could grow to love her again. Or lessen the hate in her heart to let the love shine through. Whichever way it was.


End file.
